1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to golf putters. More particularly, it relates to a high moment of inertia golf putter of generally triangular configuration having adjustable weights.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a perfect putt, a golfer strikes a golf ball exactly on the sweet spot of a putter head. This prevents the putter head from twisting about an axis of rotation defined by the golf club shaft. However, when the sweet spot is missed, the inertia offered by the ball imparts a torque to the golf club shaft. The torque increases in direct proportion to the distance by which the sweet spot is missed.
A putter head having a high moment of inertia resists the torque caused by missing the sweet spot to a greater degree than a putter head having a low moment of inertia. Putter heads having high moments of inertia are typically very wide and have weights attached to their outermost points. Most golfers prefer to play, however, with normal-sized, attractive putter heads rather than obviously over-sized putter heads.
Accordingly, there is a need for an attractive golf club putter head having a substantially normal width or breadth that provides a very high moment of inertia.
Golfers of varying heights use clubs having shafts of varying lengths. A shaft having a length of thirty five inches (35″) is considered to be the standard because it is used by players of average height. Some shafts are only thirty two inches (32″) and some are as long as thirty six inches (36″).
If a club having a shaft length less than that of a standard shaft is fitted with a putter head that weighs the same as a putter head used with a standard shaft, the club will feel too light when it is swung. More particularly, the club will be said to have a low swingweight.
Conversely, if a club having a shaft length greater than that of a standard shaft is fitted with a putter head that weighs the same as a putter head used with shafts of standard length, the club will feel too heavy when swung and will be said to have a high swingweight.
Since putter heads generally weigh about the same, this means that golfers of shorter-than-average height and taller-than-average height are disadvantaged relative to golfers of average height. The swingweight experienced by a shorter-than-average golfer will be below the swingweight experienced by a golfer of average height and the swingweight experienced by a taller-than-average golfer will be above the swingweight experienced by a golfer of average height. This gives a golfer of average height a competitive advantage over golfers of non-average height.
A “swingweight” scale has been developed that quantifies the relationship between the weight of a putter head and the length of a golf club shaft. The swingweight scale includes a plurality of large classifications including “B,” “C,” “D,” “E,” “F,” and “G.” Moreover each large classification is further divided into more precise classifications such as “B-1 B-8,” “C-1 C-8,” and so on. This swingweight classification system is more than sixty (60) years old.
The “D” range is considered the standard range. More particularly, clubs having a swingweight in the range of “D-2” to “D-5” are considered to be in the optimal range.
Thus, a club with a shorter-than-average shaft but having a putter head weight the same as the putter head weight of a standard club will be classified as having a “B” or “C” swingweight. A club with a longer-than-average shaft but having a putter head weight equal to the putter head weight of a standard club will be classified as having an “E,” “F ,” or “G” swingweight.
A club having rating in the high “C” range is considered to be just as good as a club in the “D-2 D-5” range by some experts. In other words, a difference can be felt between a club in the “D-2 D-5 range and a club in the high “C” range but the difference is not considered to be particularly significant.
Accordingly, a club having a “B,” “low C,” “high D,” “E,” “F,” or “G” swingweight is generally less desirable than a club having a “C-8” or “D1-D5” swingweight.
It would be advantageous if a club having a shaft length less than the standard length could be made to have a “D-2 D-5” swingweight. It would be equally advantageous if a club having a shaft length greater than the standard length could be made to have a “D-2 D-5 swingweight.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how such need could be fulfilled.